


Alone.

by AbbeyTheWeeb



Category: 18th Century CE RPF, American Revolution RPF, Historical RPF
Genre: Angst, Drunken Shenanigans, One-Sided Relationship, Self-Hatred, poor tench :(
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-10
Updated: 2020-09-10
Packaged: 2021-03-06 22:07:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 702
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26396122
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AbbeyTheWeeb/pseuds/AbbeyTheWeeb
Summary: Tench comes in the office, drunk.
Kudos: 5





	Alone.

Richard stands up when he hears the sound of the door opening. It’s Tench, his eyes are tired and he has the smell of alcohol. It is strange to Richard, why would he want alcohol? He never liked the taste of it, the bitterness sometimes too much for him. However, Tench was going to the local pub more and more, spending his free time away from his fellow aides-de-camp.

“Oh Tilly,” Richard chuckles. It is probably not anything serious. “You reek! Take a bath.”

“Don’t fucking care.”

_All the women would love me, Rich! Trust me, I am beautiful and have somewhat of an ass to grab! I’m just like Alex, how he can woo all the ladies!_

Richard jolts and looks at Tench. You can see the oddness of him. Something is off, and it is not the smell of alcohol. He has a long face, his eyes tired and his hair is matted. His voice is harsh and full of regret and sorrow. Richard speaks, “Tench, are you okay?”

“Fine” is all he says. He hangs his coat on the rack and stumbles to the desk that he sits on every morning. He starts to gag, but no bile comes out of him. This alarms Richard who gets out of his chair and goes to the poor man to help him. “Dun need no help, Kidder.”

_I cannot wait to get all the cute kisses! I am waiting for love, Rich, I really am!_

“Well, you look like you need help!” Richard snaps. He uses his big hands to grab Tench’s hips as if to stop him from falling. Tench’s hand goes across his cheek, his palm full of hate and wet with slimy beer. Richard stumbles back, his hand on the burning sensation on his cheek. Tench is not the person to be like this, he thinks, he will never dare to harm his aides. “Tench, something is off. You come home drunk for the past few weeks! This is not normal. Especially for you, my friend. Something if off. Is it your loyalist father? Where’s my Tench? This is not like you.”

Tench is normally cocky and full of life, his jokes normally bring smiles to everyone, even to his Excellency himself. He is the best person to lay a shoulder on and make his friends happy through the darker moments of the war. His cocky attitude about himself is not even a pest to the aides, they are intrigued by it, how he can be.

“I’m not happy,” the small man mutters, his eyes have bags under them as if he couldn’t sleep for days. Richard feels his soul leave his body when he hears that. Of course Tench is upset, but just hearing him say it is somewhat different just by looking.

“What are you not happy about?” Richard frowns.

“No one loves me.”

“Tench! I love you-”

“Not in tha’ way,” he furrows his brow. He gags again, still nothing coming out. His cocky demeanor is ruined, Richard swallows. Tench is not himself. He continues, “How can “evy’ one can find love? The general, Hamilton with Laurens, you. I am nothing, Meade.”

“Tench,” Richard almost grabs him again, but the stinging on his cheek tells him not to do it. “Tench, please… I am very sure that a lady would find you. How about the ones near town, surely-”

“I have tried,” Tench cuts him off, his voice loud with anger and melancholy. “I treat ’em right, Rich, I really do. But no! There is always a little quirk that is wrong with my body, my voice, my position in the army, how I don’t get paid. I am not enough for anyone. No woman will ever love me, Rich. Goodnight”

“Listen, Tench-”

“Goodnight,” he snarls, looking back at Richard. He looks like he is about to cry, yet he doesn’t have the gut to do it. He scurries to his room drunkenly, leaving Richard there as he slams the door. He hopes that Tench, his best friend throughout the war, could find love for himself. Oh, but you already know, some people never find the love of their life. Let’s pray Tench finds his.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading!


End file.
